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In order to detect early signs of kidney damage, researchers attached a fluorescent label on a human monoclonal antibody that targets a damaged collagen that can indicate kidney disease. The tagging method was effective in mice and in tissue taken from diseased human kidneys, according to a study published in Kidney International. For humans, the labeled antibodies need to be used with an advanced imaging method such as PET to allow for comprehensive evaluation of both kidneys, a researcher said. The antibody also shows potential for targeted delivery of drugs such as prostaglandin E2, which was shown in an American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology study to be effective in restoring kidney function of mice.

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Many patients with advanced stages of kidney disease are taking statin drugs to reduce their cholesterol levels that are unlikely to help them and may cause harm, according to a study published in the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs. Statins offer no benefit to advanced kidney disease patients, little benefit to early-stage patients, and the drugs may even raise other health risks such as muscle pain, diabetes or dementia, researchers found.

Individuals with chronic kidney disease were more likely to develop treatment-resistant hypertension than those with functioning kidneys, according to a study in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Male and black patients had a greater risk of resistant hypertension, along with those with bigger waist size, diabetes, a history of myocardial infarction or stroke, worsening renal function, and statin use.

Nanoparticle smart bombs designed to carry an anti-cancer drug called doxorubicin hampered the spread of pancreatic and kidney cancer in mice by targeting integrin ανβ3 -- a protein found on the surface of some tumor blood vessels -- without destroying nearby tissues, a U.S. study found. "This new drug-delivery system offers an important advance in treating metastatic disease," the study's lead researcher said.

A researcher at the Scripps Research Institute in California said Sunday that he has created induced pluripotent stem cells of mice and humans. Scientist Sheng Ding said he replaced some of the four genes used in making such cells with artificial chemicals to create a safer, more effective nongenetic method, and he predicted that producing iPS cells solely from chemicals may be possible "in a couple of years."

Japanese scientists observed "markedly improved" uncoordinated movement in mice with spinocerebellar ataxia after injecting them with an altered form of HIV that penetrates brain cells and releases a gene capable of repairing the genetic problem that produces the symptoms. The finding holds promise for a human gene therapy for Huntington's disease, which belongs to the same family of inherited neurodegenerative diseases, the researchers said.